B.C. casinos claim revenue down because of new anti-money laundering rules
Casino owners cite new anti-money laundering rules in decrease in gaming revenues at River Rock in Richmond and Parq in Vancouver
GORDON HOEKSTRA Updated: August 30, 2018
B.C.’s new anti-money laundering rules have negatively affected revenues at the River Rock and Parq casinos.
According to financial results released in August, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation saw a fall in B.C. revenues in the first six months of 2018 due in part to declines in money earned at gaming tables at the River Rock Casino in Richmond. The company said that was primarily attributable to a new requirement requiring casinos to complete disclosures on the source of cash deposits or bearer bonds of more than $10,000.
The Parq casino in Vancouver, through its major shareholder Toronto-based Dundee Corp., also cited the new anti-money laundering rules in saying they resulted in regulatory costs and business “impacts” that affected their bottom line in the first six months of 2018.
The rules were implemented in late December 2017 in response to interim recommendations from an independent review by Peter German, a former RCMP deputy commissioner.
The B.C. government launched the review over concerns about Chinese high-roller VIPs purchasing gambling chips with massive wads of cash that could be “proceeds of crime.”
Those concerns were outlined in a confidential report commissioned by the B.C. Lotteries Corp. from auditor MNP LLP that found $13.5 million in $20 bills had being accepted in the River Rock Casino in July 2015.
In releasing his final report at the end of June, German concluded that for many years certain Lower Mainland casinos unwittingly served as “laundromats” for the proceeds of organized crime and that laundered money was linked to drug trafficking and real estate transactions in the Lower Mainland’s heated housing market.
...
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-...undering-rules
Threaded Mode